Shadowcatcher
by Mirime Kisarrastine
Summary: Shikamaru was dragging his feet, Temari was getting impatient and Ino was getting involved. Or, how it all started. ShikaTema, Giftfic for a friend


**Pairing/Characters:** Shikamaru/Temari; Shikamaru, Temari, Ino

**A/N:** Gift fic for my friend Melian, on her request My first Naruto fic, coincidentally. Some spoilers for Part 2 of manga but nothing major.

**Disclaimer:** Naruto and everything related to the fandom is property of Kishimoto Masashi and I'm not making any money out of this.

* * *

Nara Shikamaru, shinobi of Konohagakure and undisputed genius, was extremely close to commiting what could be seen as nothing else but blatant disobedience of Hokage's direct orders. It was a beautiful day outside, not too windy nor too sunny, perfect for cloud watching. But instead of indulging in his favourite pastime, he had to wait at the gate for the arrival of delegates from Sunagakure, coming to finalize remaining details about the Chuunin exam that was to be held in Konoha. Shikamaru straightened a bit from his slump against the gate post, scanning his surroundings and trying to catch a glimpse of blond hair. It didn't matter whether the hair belonged to Ino or Temari. Both of the options were equally bad. Temari would flirt with him again and Ino, Ino would be yakking at him about how he should finally make a move at Temari.

Seeing no blondes in the vicinity (which meant two things - Suna's entourage was late and Ino had probably too much work to come and lecture him), Shikamaru took out his cigarette pack and lit one. The first inhale of smoke immediately soothed him and allowed his mind to reflect on his troublesome situation.

Ino seemed to interpret Asuma's parting words to her as both an order and permission to meddle in his and Chouji's life as much as possible. While neither of them complained about her making sure they were eating properly (even though her attempt to get Chouji to go on diet ended disastrously) and were not overworked, the line was drawn at their - for the most part nonexistent - love lives. That is, they tried to draw a line. Ino, being Ino, stomped all over the line and practically erased it from existence. Chouji knew better than to protest and Shikamaru found protesting to be too much work. All he had to do was not to show up for any of the arranged dates and endure Ino's beratings the following day. The real problems started when Ino saw him interacting with Temari. His blond teammate then got it into her ignorant head that the kunoichi from the Sand was his reason for refusing other girls. Which was nonsense, of course.

Temari was his close acquaintance, maybe even a friend. She was easy to talk to, understood shinobi business, knew of the stress that being in a responsible position brought and she was certainly a force to be reckoned with. She could be scarier than his mother when she was pissed off and that was a feat only a select few women could accomplish. But he wasn't interested in her beyond the level of friendship. And even if he was interested (hypothetically speaking, of course), why should he trouble himself approaching her and risk rejection when he could as well wait for her to make the first step, right?

However, there was a slight problem, caused by Ino. Ino approached Temari on "behalf of his feelings" or something like that and ever since then, Shikamaru dreaded meeting with Kazekage's sister. Temari flirted with him, complete with looks, words, innuendos and even touches. She didn't come out and said anything that could be seen as the first step, though and so Shikamaru ignored her. If he was wrong and her flirting was just a friendly thing (heck, he had seen Ino doing it million times before), he wasn't about to set himself up for rejection.

"Oi, Nara!"

Shikamaru sighed and crushed his cigarette on the ground before facing one of his blond nightmares.

"Temari," he acknowledged, nodding at the shinobis accompanying her. The Sand kunoichi smiled at him, stepping closer.

"Did you miss me?" she whispered, winking.

_Like Pain in the Akatsuki_ was not a good answer, he knew that much.

"Who would miss a troublesome woman like you?" he retorted his typical answer, before stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning around to lead them further into the village. "Let's go. You are late already and I want to get this over with."

"So cold, Shikamaru," Temari commented as she fell in step with him. "You haven't seen me in months and yet you act as if you could care less. You didn't even notice my new haircut."

Shikamaru glanced at her, compared her current hair with his memory of it and scoffed.

"It looks the same," he muttered. Temari grinned.

"It is. So you **do** notice me. You're just shy to come out and say it, huh?" she elbowed him good-naturedly while Shikamaru just grunted at getting caught. So he noticed her hair. Big deal. It wasn't like it was the subtlest thing around. And they were pretty, he could admit that much. He liked looking at her hair. What was wrong with that? Nothing.

"Just hurry up, will you?" he said and looked determinedly ahead, not noticing Temari's widening grin.  
hr Shikamaru laid in his favourite spot, gazing at the clouds and trying to gain his mental equilibrium back. This day was a disaster. While the talks about the Chuunin exam went well, the rest of it got screwed up spectacularly. First there was the fact that Temari managed to drag him for lunch, which wouldn't be that bad. But then she insisted they should go for a walk and somehow they ended up in Yamanaka's flower shop. And it was Ino's work day. Coincidence? Shikamaru didn't think so.

{flashback}

_"Shikamaru, Temari. What a surprise?" Ino welcomed them, grinning from ear to ear. "On a date?"_

_"No," Shikamaru bit out. "She dragged me along and it would be-"_

_"Too troublesome to resist," Ino and Temari finished for him together._

_"Really, Nara. You're so predictable," Temari shook her head before turning to talk to Ino. "You remember about those flowers I was interested in?"_

_"Sure," Ino said. "We just received a whole shipping of them. This way," she led the Suna shinobi away and Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't help but think the two of them were conspiring against him. With any luck, they would be gone for a long time._

_"Here!"_

_A large bouquet of flowers was stuck under his nose and he looked down at Ino who was holding the offending object._

_"What's that?" he asked._

_"Flowers," Ino rolled her eyes at him. "For Temari."_

_"Why?"_

_"Because it's obligatory to give flowers to your girlfriend."_

_"She's not my-"_

_"Yes, she is, or is going to be and you need to get into a habit of giving her flowers or other presents early on in the relationship."_

_"Again, Ino, why?"_

_Instead of answering, she pressed the bouquet into his hands and he unwillingly took it before Ino started explaining._

_"Women needs to feel cherished, Shikamaru. Little presents or flowers now and then - meaning at least once a week - show that you care. If you don't show it, you're going to end up cowering in the corner and she will be screaming 'I hate you.' and smashing that expensive china set her brother gave you as a wedding gift against your head and then beat you up with her fan for good measure."_

_"Temari wouldn't do that. And we don't date," Shikamaru quickly corrected himself. "And I certainly don't plan on marrying someone like her. Never in my life."_

_"Oh, really?" a voice came from behind him, with so much cold in it Shikamaru was surprised the flowers weren't wilting around them. He slowly turned and there she was, looking as pissed off as he had never seen her. She grabbed the flowers from him and inhaled their scent. "Are these for me? You want to give them to me to let me down gently?"_

_"Temari, listen-" Shikamaru tried to smooth it out. He really did. But Fate and two blondes were conspiring against him._

_"Out!" Ino ordered. "If you're not man enough to admit your feelings, you have nothing to do here."_

_Shikamaru knew when it was time to make strategic retreat. Honestly, they were both overreacting. Terribly overreacting as he managed to overhear Ino's words to Temari._

_"I think all that's left is to beat some sense into him."_

_Shikamaru hurried away._

{end flashback}

Shikamaru scowled. Women were troublesome, blonde ones especially. He reached for his cigarettes. He needed a smoke, right now, else he would go crazy. Just as he was about to light it, he felt a familiar and pissed off chakra heading in his direction. He looked at the cigarette with regret, contemplating that a condemned man had a right for his last smoke before putting it away. He wouldn't manage to finish it before Temari caught up with him anyway.

And here she came, huffing up the hill, furious and deadly and beautiful. Really, why was this woman so attractive when angry? She was brandishing her trademark weapon and killing intent was literally oozing of her. Shikamaru thought lazily about how much she would damage him and if the subsequent healing process was more trouble than swallowing his laziness right now and putting things right.

Then, there was no time to think, because she spotted him and charged at him. The sun was behind her and it was a matter of a second to form hand seals and imprison her with his Kagemane no Jutsu. He stood up slowly, gazing at her furious face, lowering his hand and opening his fingers, Temari mirroring his movements unwillingly. The fan dropped to the ground.

"Shikamaru, you... you..." she couldn't even get her words out properly.

"Tch, how troublesome," Shikamaru sighed and started walking to her, stopping when he was less than a feet from her. He gazed at her face, contemplating, before finally capitulating to inevitable. He was attracted to her and he didn't like to be beaten up badly. There weren't 200 painless solutions for his problem, no matter how much he analyzed it. There was only one. A true man knows when to admit defeat, he reminded himself.

"Will you go out with me?"

Temari blinked.

"What?"

"Will you go out with me? For a date?"

"Are you serious?" she questioned him. Shikamaru sighed. Damn women and their troublesome minds, not believing men whent they were trying to make first step. He released the jutsu but before she could react, he dropped his head and kissed her.

"Will you go out with me?" he repeated after he pulled away. Temari seemed to be processing what had just happened before she grinned and tripped him. Shikamaru fell down and Temari went with him. Settling comfortably on his chest, she looked down at him.

"Sure. Took you long enough to ask, by the way."

"Well, you could have asked me first."

Temari slapped him upside the head.

"A girl never makes the first step."

And thus, Shikamaru learned his first important lesson in dealing with women. And then, he went on learning, starting with kisses and continuing with, well, you can probably imagine.

THE END

**A/N 2: **Well, the ending was rushed, I know, but I was trying to get it finished in time for Christmas. There is also probably some OOCness. Blame it on the fact that as far as Naruto fandom is concerned, I prefer other pairings. Well, Merry Christmas to you all.


End file.
